Tom Stoppard and Edmund de Waal come together in conversation to discuss some of the themes and concerns they share in their work, including diaspora, displacement, art and libraries and the cultural particularity of pre-War Vienna.
This event is available to view as a recording until 13 June. Tickets can be purchased below.
Tom Stoppard’s latest play, Leopoldstadt, is his most personal yet. Inspired by his own Czech Jewish heritage, the story follows an Austrian Jewish family from the heady cultural glow of late 19th century Vienna through the Anschluss and beyond. Edmund de Waal’s The Hare with the Amber Eyes, described as one of The Guardian’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century starts with an inheritance of Japanese netsuke, through which de Waal traces his family’s story from Odessa to fin de siècle Paris, occupied Vienna to Tokyo.
Coming together in conversation for this very special event, Stoppard and de Waal discuss the themes and concerns they share in these two great works: European Jewish identity and diaspora, the particularity of pre-war Vienna, the legacy of the Holocaust and art and culture as a means of assimilation and escape. They will also consider libraries as safe spaces which challenge oppression and censorship. Tom Stoppard was President of The London Library from 2002-2017 and de Waal’s recent installation, library of exile, explores displacement, language as migration, writing in exile and lost libraries.
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Tom Stoppard’s most recent play, Leopoldstadt, directed by Patrick Marber, premiered in January 2020 at Wyndham’s Theatre and went on to win an Olivier Award. His previous plays include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Jumpers, Travesties, The Real Thing, Arcadia and The Hard Problem. His screenplays include Brazil, Empire of the Sun, The Human Factor, Billy Bathgate and Shakespeare in Love, which won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.
Edmund de Waal is an artist who writes. His interventions and artworks, made for diverse spaces and museums worldwide, investigate themes of diaspora, memorial, materiality, the history and potential of ceramics and the colour white. library of exile was first held within the Ateneo Veneto as part of the Venice Biennale 2019 and was most recently at the British Museum. His books are The Hare with the Amber Eyes, The White Road, and Letters to Camondo, which is published in April.
Tickets
Tickets cost £5 or buy a £25 Festival Pass for access to all festival event recordings.
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Your link will be sent to you via Eventbrite. If you do not receive it, please check your junk file or email litfest@londonlibrary.co.uk. Please note the event starts with a slide show listing the festival events which lasts approx. 1 minute.
Transcription for this event will be available soon.
Ticket holders will receive a 10% discount to buy all festival books from Hatchards until 13 June with their ticket.